Bloomfield Hills schools to hire security officer by end of school year

By CAROL HOPKINS

Thursday, January 24, 2013

The first day of school after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Conn., Bloomfield Hills School District officials met with Bloomfield Township police to talk about security procedures.

"The discussion was ground-breaking, wide-reaching," said Capt. Scott McCanham with Bloomfield Township Police.

The meeting centered around security, prompted by the deaths of 26 people gunned down Dec. 14 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. The gunman also killed his mother in her home, before committing suicide.

That week, the department sent additional officers to patrol the schools -- in case. The district and police officials continued to talk.

On Thursday, Bloomfield Hills Superintendent Rob Glass announced the district and police department have agreed to partner to hire a security officer whose function will be to keep students and buildings safe.

"While we have been reassured our procedures are among the very best," said Glass in a statement, "we also believe that there is room for improvement. The pathway to a higher level of safety and security rests in higher levels of consistent training for staff, students and the parents who frequent our schools. The best plans in the world are dependent upon faithful execution in order to provide the protection intended."

The Bloomfield Hills district has 5,500 students in four elementary schools, three middle schools and two traditional high schools.

A new combined high school was approved last year and is expected to be constructed to open in 2015.

"There is so much there (in the district) to handle," McCanham said.

McCanham said he believes the person would be hired before the end of this school year. No firm date was announced.

The district has two school liaison officers who are police officers hired by the township. The district and township split the officers' salaries, said McCanham.

The new security official would work for the district during the school year, said district spokeswoman Shira Good, and then work for the police department in the summer.

The benefits of being a Bloomfield Township officer is that "they will be able to go to (the police department's) roll call and know what is happening in the community," Good said.

The new official will be asked to:

n Conduct an immediate review of existing procedures, identify areas for improvement and help make those improvements.

n Provide ongoing training and drills for staff, students and parents at each building.

n Monitor security on a rotating basis across the district, making sure buildings are secure and procedures are being followed as intended.

n Provide a visible security presence within the district and proactively communicate with the district's two police liaison officers and other area law enforcement to stay apprised of any potential threats that may arise.

Good said questions came up during the in-depth look at security in December and January, and officials found procedures that could be improved.

"We told people to please not hold doors open for (strangers), and to let them know they need to be buzzed into schools," Good said.

"We are encouraging staff to wear their ID badges."

With the new high school in its final design stage, "we want to build that as safely as possible," Good said.

Safety, she noted, involves more "than an active-shooter situation."

McCanham believes the new hire in the district is a "great idea," he said.

"Job one for this person will be to make sure Newtown stays fresh in everybody's mind."

Contact Carol Hopkins at 248-745-4645 or carol.hopkins@oakpress.com. Follow her on Twitter @OPCarolHopkins or on Facebook @OPcarolhopkins.